Yahoo! Games

James O'Brien

Hockey Daily Dose

Dark times

While Twitter was abuzz with semantic arguments about whether Taylor Hall cheap-shotted Cal Clutterbuck’s thigh or knee with his hip or knee, it dawned on me: things have been really bleak in the NHL lately.

Thursday’s round of action really put the exclamation point on that thought. As if bad times for the likes of Erik Karlsson and Marian Hossa weren’t enough, people were getting carted off on stretchers and/or had their careers put in jeopardy with dangerous hits or total accidents.

To keep things in order, I thought I’d section them off one-by-one:

HALL OF A MISTAKE

There have been some debatable hits so far - we can go back and forth on Jannik Hansen’s brief suspension for the Hossa hit all day - but for my money, Hall’s hit on Clutterbuck was as obvious as it gets. (Devin Setoguchiagrees.)

Let there be little doubt that the NHL runs a “star system.” If the shoe was on the other foot and Clutterbuck was the offender, I’d be willing to bet a key organ that he’d get a few games. Since the top pick of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft was the guilty party instead, I’m a bit less confident to throw around predictions. At least about how hard the Shanahammer will come down.

Still, I’d be shocked if the NHL doesn’t slap him with at least a three-game suspension. (Then again, the league has raised eyebrows before plenty of times, so you never really know where the wheel will fall until the official announcement is made.)

Stat guys (quite reasonably) believe Taylor Hall is the locomotive who drives the Edmonton Oilers’ better moments, so it’s not just Hall owners who should root for a short suspension. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle subscribers could also lose out.

No update about Clutterbuck yet, but he was stretchered off on Thursday. So if you employ him to rack up hits, I’d recommend either punting that category or finding a replacement.

SCARY MOMENT FOR ANISIMOV

Jeez, the hockey world really held its collective breath for Artem Anisimov last night. You know things are bad when an update about someone being able to move and being awake and alert is a good sign. He took an awkward spill with Detroit Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey, who appeared to also hurt his left leg on the play.

The fantasy impact is pretty minimal. Despite flashes of brilliance, he’s not really an exemplary guy in any major categories. Maybe someday he’ll dominate more with that big frame, but honestly, I’d be happy just to see him play again after that scary injury.

HITS KEEP COMING FOR THE SENATORS

Maybe the Ottawa Senators won’t win the “most man games lost to injury” prize this season if teams like the Blue Jackets dominate the quantity of wounded category, but the quality of Sens’ injured players is stunning.

Karlsson’s done for the season, Jason Spezza is close to that and now even Craig Anderson is at least banged up. The team describes his issue as a sprained ankle, leaving him day-to-day after a collision with Chris Kreider. Day-to-day is a vague, taunting label that could hamstring your lineup since you can’t just stash him on the IR like some frozen chicken, yet it could also mean it’s no big thing.

It might be a good idea to stock up on Ben Bishop in the meantime, although the same backup rule applies as always: only drop fringe guys for someone like Bishop. In fact, considering Robin Lehner’s pedigree, Bishop is far from guaranteed a ton of starts if Anderson gets hurt.

HARD TO READ

Someone floated the idea of “The Curse of the Philadelphia Flyers LW,” and it seems like there might be some substance to that silly idea. Sophomore forward Matt Read is the latest victim of that hoax, as torn muscles in his rib cage will sideline him for a whopping six weeks.

That’s a bummer, as Read scored a team-leading seven goals and a promising 13 points in 18 games. It’s your call (and highly dependent on your roster and number of IR slots) whether to drop him or stash him, but it’s a tough break either way.

People who own other Flyers wingers should be darkly pleased, though. The odds of Jakub Voracek (who continued his red-hot run with another goal on Thursday) regressing sharply are now lower, even as Scott Hartnell approaches a return. This could also be good news for guys who might have had to fight for top-six duties and guys who might bounce around a bit in line combos such as Danny Briere and Wayne Simmonds.

ONE OTHER NOTE

In Thursday’s other disturbing injury, Zach Redmond was cut badly in practice, requiring three hours of surgery. That’s already a freak occurrence, but get this: the rookie defenseman was wearing Kevlar socks that might have saved Erik Karlsson. It’s unlikely he’s too high on many radars, although he did do some nice things (four points, 12 PIM) in his first eight NHL games. Hopefully he can resume play in the reasonably near future.

After the jump: some actual good injury news and more from around the NHL.

While Twitter was abuzz with semantic arguments about whether Taylor Hall cheap-shotted Cal Clutterbuck’s thigh or knee with his hip or knee, it dawned on me: things have been really bleak in the NHL lately.

Thursday’s round of action really put the exclamation point on that thought. As if bad times for the likes of Erik Karlsson and Marian Hossa weren’t enough, people were getting carted off on stretchers and/or had their careers put in jeopardy with dangerous hits or total accidents.

To keep things in order, I thought I’d section them off one-by-one:

HALL OF A MISTAKE

There have been some debatable hits so far - we can go back and forth on Jannik Hansen’s brief suspension for the Hossa hit all day - but for my money, Hall’s hit on Clutterbuck was as obvious as it gets. (Devin Setoguchiagrees.)

Let there be little doubt that the NHL runs a “star system.” If the shoe was on the other foot and Clutterbuck was the offender, I’d be willing to bet a key organ that he’d get a few games. Since the top pick of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft was the guilty party instead, I’m a bit less confident to throw around predictions. At least about how hard the Shanahammer will come down.

Still, I’d be shocked if the NHL doesn’t slap him with at least a three-game suspension. (Then again, the league has raised eyebrows before plenty of times, so you never really know where the wheel will fall until the official announcement is made.)

Stat guys (quite reasonably) believe Taylor Hall is the locomotive who drives the Edmonton Oilers’ better moments, so it’s not just Hall owners who should root for a short suspension. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle subscribers could also lose out.

No update about Clutterbuck yet, but he was stretchered off on Thursday. So if you employ him to rack up hits, I’d recommend either punting that category or finding a replacement.

SCARY MOMENT FOR ANISIMOV

Jeez, the hockey world really held its collective breath for Artem Anisimov last night. You know things are bad when an update about someone being able to move and being awake and alert is a good sign. He took an awkward spill with Detroit Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey, who appeared to also hurt his left leg on the play.

The fantasy impact is pretty minimal. Despite flashes of brilliance, he’s not really an exemplary guy in any major categories. Maybe someday he’ll dominate more with that big frame, but honestly, I’d be happy just to see him play again after that scary injury.

HITS KEEP COMING FOR THE SENATORS

Maybe the Ottawa Senators won’t win the “most man games lost to injury” prize this season if teams like the Blue Jackets dominate the quantity of wounded category, but the quality of Sens’ injured players is stunning.

Karlsson’s done for the season, Jason Spezza is close to that and now even Craig Anderson is at least banged up. The team describes his issue as a sprained ankle, leaving him day-to-day after a collision with Chris Kreider. Day-to-day is a vague, taunting label that could hamstring your lineup since you can’t just stash him on the IR like some frozen chicken, yet it could also mean it’s no big thing.

It might be a good idea to stock up on Ben Bishop in the meantime, although the same backup rule applies as always: only drop fringe guys for someone like Bishop. In fact, considering Robin Lehner’s pedigree, Bishop is far from guaranteed a ton of starts if Anderson gets hurt.

HARD TO READ

Someone floated the idea of “The Curse of the Philadelphia Flyers LW,” and it seems like there might be some substance to that silly idea. Sophomore forward Matt Read is the latest victim of that hoax, as torn muscles in his rib cage will sideline him for a whopping six weeks.

That’s a bummer, as Read scored a team-leading seven goals and a promising 13 points in 18 games. It’s your call (and highly dependent on your roster and number of IR slots) whether to drop him or stash him, but it’s a tough break either way.

People who own other Flyers wingers should be darkly pleased, though. The odds of Jakub Voracek (who continued his red-hot run with another goal on Thursday) regressing sharply are now lower, even as Scott Hartnell approaches a return. This could also be good news for guys who might have had to fight for top-six duties and guys who might bounce around a bit in line combos such as Danny Briere and Wayne Simmonds.

ONE OTHER NOTE

In Thursday’s other disturbing injury, Zach Redmond was cut badly in practice, requiring three hours of surgery. That’s already a freak occurrence, but get this: the rookie defenseman was wearing Kevlar socks that might have saved Erik Karlsson. It’s unlikely he’s too high on many radars, although he did do some nice things (four points, 12 PIM) in his first eight NHL games. Hopefully he can resume play in the reasonably near future.

After the jump: some actual good injury news and more from around the NHL.

SOME GOOD NEWS

Not every bit of news forced hockey fans to crack out their Bright Eyes/Morrissey/The Cure records, though.

Corey Crawford has been cleared from what he wouldn’t confirm was a concussion. Hossa could return as soon as Thursday after injuring himself in a rather scary fashion. Jimmy Howard seems OK after experiencing blurry vision and actually played last night. Scott Hartnell looks like he’s making pretty nice progress from a broken foot, as well.

In other words, it’s not all bad.

GOING THROUGH HUBERDY

As far as standout performances, Jonathan Huberdeau probably took the cake with a four-point performance (two goals, two assists) in the Florida Panthers’ 5-2 drubbing of the Philadelphia Flyers.

It’s borderline scientific that if you’re going to own a guy who’s sort of a fringe player in fantasy, you’ll probably feel more excited about it if that fellow happens to be a potential Calder Trophy candidate. I’m not sure Huberdeau is particularly outstanding in any area at 19, but he’s clearly talented.

It also seems like the Panthers are generally starting to play better offensively, so perhaps that will benefit the gifted rookie as well. If he’s available and you want a fun gamble, give him a try. As you can see from the cheesy section headline, if nothing else, his last name just begs for stupid puns. (People like using “Uber” in particular.)

DVR JVR

Say what you will about how little he proved (beyond some scintillating playoff work) before getting a hearty contract with his former employers in Philly, the James van Riemsdyk for Luke Schenn trade seemed like a hyper-steal for Toronto from the second it was announced.

JVR hasn’t disappointed, either. He’s now on a four-game point streak (five points), with Thursday’s two-goal, six-shot performance being the centerpiece.

You can complain about his amusing goal-assist ratio (11 tallies, just four apples), but snipers are valued for filling up harder-to-cover categories. JVR isn't scoring by accident; he has a robust 65 SOG in 18 games, almost four per game. He also has a respectable 12 PIM, giving him nice potential for power forward status.

He's owned in 71 percent of leagues, so if you're lucky enough to be in the 29 percent where he's available, scoop him up.

TRADE BAIT?

The NBA’s trade deadline got me thinking about a news item that I failed to mention earlier: the Anaheim Ducks signing Viktor Fasth to a two-year, $5.8 million contract extension after watching him start his late-blooming NHL career with an 8-0-0 record.

A little hasty, huh? There are a lot of things to discuss with that trade in different venues, but it made me wonder about Jonas Hiller. Could he eventually be one of the big targets of the trade deadline in April?

Look, it’s not out of the question for NHL teams to employ two renowned goalies. (No, Vancouver doesn’t really count, since they’re sort of getting dragged into it by GM Mike Gillis’ pickiness.)

Still, those teams (like the Pittsburgh Penguins with Marc-Andre Fleury and Tomas Vokoun) tend to be the league’s bigger spenders. How can a low-to-mid budget team like Anaheim justify spending $7.4 million ($4.5M for Hiller, $2.9 for Fasth) going forward, especially if they want to retain one or both of Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf?

It definitely makes you wonder if Hiller or another Ducks player might be shipped at some point between now and early April.

David Clarkson seemed banged up in yesterday’s game, but returned to action. Keep an eye on his situation … Andrew Ladd had three points Thursday, giving him 16 in 16 games. He doesn’t get enough credit as a viable option, although his SOG (38 in 16 GP) is a little off last year’s 265. He’s super sturdy, too, with just one game missed in the last four seasons coming into 2013 … Jamie McBain is day-to-day with an upper-body injury … No update on Vladimir Tarasenko just yet … Michael Ryder returned for the Dallas Stars on Thursday, scoring a solid backhand goal … I wouldn’t get too excited about Matt Cullen’s three-point output.